The Bilberry Goats Billed as The Bilberry Goats Alive Again…3rd Time Lucky!!!, there was a strong sense of nostalgia among a capacity audience who – like the cast – were remembering the good times as they reprised their greatest hits. When it was funny, it was a howl and a hoot but at times it was...
Author: Liam Murphy
Between the Lines
Between the Lines
The Graduate Since their founding in 2014, Curtain Call Productions Dungarvan have quickly established a growing reputation for big cast productions and they have now added another layer of good quality drama and comedy. Some may think that taking on a play better known as an iconic Sixties rite of passage movie was...
Between the Lines
Between the Lines
Johnjo Co Waterford-born playwright Tom O’Brien was in the audience for the home premiere of his one-man play Johnjo at Central Arts, up Andy Jordan’s Lane. Actor Eamon Culloty for Stagemad Theatre delivered a poignant and at times angry portrayal of Johnjo McGrath, whose home life on a distressed farm at...
Some Enchanted Evening
Some Enchanted Evening
Without fanfare, Glenn Murphy walked out onto the Theatre Royal stage on Friday evening last and ‘slowly, gently’ began to sing ‘Music Of The Night’. The capacity audience was more nervous that he was as his voice soared. He held the silence, as he began to “live as you never lived...
Spraoi Turns City into Urban Playground
Spraoi Turns City into Urban Playground
This year, Spraoi turned Waterford into an urban fairground attraction with sights and sounds to heighten expectation and wonder. There was allure, music and the unexpected around the corner. If you were in Gladstone Street, you wondered what was going on John Roberts Square and people telling you: “Ya ‘shudda’ seen...
Between the Lines
Between the Lines
War Of Attrition The excellent and under-recognised Kilkenny Devious Theatre brought John Morton’s latest play, War of Attrition, to the new arts venue in Thomastown – Sessions Arts Centre. This was the second John Morton play to impress me so much in two months and the rundown, in-need-of...
Between the Lines
Between the Lines
The Alizar Tree Little Red Kettle Theatre Company used a selection of characters from Grimm fairytales in their very imaginative production of their own creative concatenation, The Alizar Tree, giving a cast of over 50 children a glorious chance to explore transformative theatre. During the summer I had been reading...
High School Festival
High School Festival
Vicki Graham has succeeded and made the only remaining aspect of the Waterford International Music Festival, that came after WIFLO, a significant theatrical event at the Theatre Royal. It was to have been a three-day event but, due to problems, we got two short-form (50 mins) shows on the Friday from...
It’s The Real McCoy
It’s The Real McCoy
I went to the Theatre Royal to see the latest Paddywhackery – if you’re Oirish – play, touring the country with great success, It’s The Real McCoy. Had mixed feelings about the possible am-dram content but was won over by a fun and good old-fashioned rural play that is not a mile away from the...
An Audience with Sir Jonathan Miller
An Audience with Sir Jonathan Miller
There was a capacity audience at Garter Lane Arts Centre for An Audience with Sir Jonathan Miller and while many might have expected Sir Jonathan to display the traits that had him labelled ‘King of Curmudgeons’ and ‘the most hilariously grumpy and acid tongued man in Britain’, this was a fascinating but restrained...
Prisoners of Silence
Prisoners of Silence
Moondharrig Players, Mooncoin presented James Cheasty’s powerful play, Prisoners of Silence, in the Mooncoin Parish Hall and attracted excellent houses for a play that owes it genesis to small-town Ireland. The people know it in their own way, perhaps acknowledging by a nod or a gesture how well they understand...
Stag and Hens
Stag and Hens
Suirfire Productions, who are emerging as the best in entertaining theatre in Waterford, kept the laughter pot bubbling last week at Garter Lane. Their mission statement says “to enlighten and entertain its audience with the highest quality text based theatre” and they certainly know how to entertain and...